District Council Hands Out Tax Breaks to Developers

Today, the District of Columbia Council approved three bills that would exempt several developers from property taxes throughout the city, with one exemption lasting indefinitely. Yup. Indefinitely. Councilmembers were handing out tax abatements like candy at a parade to Affordable Housing Opportunities Inc., Neighborhood Development Company, and Donatelli Development. The tax abatements come in exchange for residential developments that provide housing at affordable levels in communities ranging from Georgia Avenue to Columbia Heights, Congress Heights to Naylor Road. Though abatements are often offered as a preemptive tool to encourage affordable housing, the Donatelli project delivered last July; the abatement in this case softens the blow of a major condo development that turned rental when the financial headwinds were too strong.

Donatelli's Park Place, which opened atop the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro station last summer boasting 156 rental apartments and 5 rowhouses, offered 20% of the units to low-income tenants. Park Place is a $71 million, 200,000 square-foot housing and retail project. The abatement begins FY 2009 and exempts the developer from property taxes for the next 10 years and increases by 10% for the years 11 through 20 until the point at which the developer is paying full property taxes. In 20 years. Though, according to Brian DeBose, Communications Director for Councilmember Jim Graham, this is the an unusual request from Donatelli, whose projects have consistently set aside affordable housing, without any expectation of tax abatement. Graham saw fit to support the developer, a DC resident, and to "better advantage the building" during an economic downturn.

Neighborhood Development Company's The Heights on Georgia Avenue proposes to bring 69 new residential units and ground floor retail with half of the units set aside as affordable. The Georgia Avenue site was acquired by a partnership of NDC and Mi Casa Inc. – a DC-based non-profit that specializes in restoring aging properties and converting them into affordable housing. Architect Graham Parker designed the building, which will come in at a cost of approximately $25 million. The project received the vote of approval from the ANC for the zoning adjustments needed to bring in the development. The abatement for The Heights is the same as the Park Place abatement.

A bill submitted by Councilmember Marion Barry also provides indefinite tax abatement on two properties owned by Affordable Housing Opportunities Inc. (AHO), and even paying back taxes already received from FY 2008. The exempted are the former Wilson Court Apartments at 523-525 Mellon Street SE, purchased in 2008 for $1.5 million, and 2765 Naylor Road in SE, which the developer purchased in July 2008 for $2.8 million. Nelson Architects designed the renovations for both buildings. Plans for the former property include 36 single room units and 15 efficiencies, including two for on-site staff. The units will be made available to special needs single adults all with initial incomes at or below 30 to 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Neighbors have objected strongly to the proposed use, but Troy Swan of SOME indicated the project plans may change since the Mellon Street project did not receive any Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). The latter AHO property on Naylor Road will include 40 units at or below 60% AMI and received a LIHTC award from the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in August.


The approval of AHO's abatement for Naylor Road and Mellon Street comes despite a June letter from Natwar M. Gandhi, the District's Chief Financial Officer, stating funds are "not sufficient in the FY 2009 budget or the proposed FY 2010 through FY 2013 budget" indicating the total negative fiscal impact through FY 2013 would total $383,700. Though abatement bill also includes an amendment that would supposedly offset the cost of the lost taxes through parking meters.


Washington, DC real estate and development news.

Image of 523 Mellon Street SE Courtesy of South East Socialite.

New Townhomes Coming to Congress Heights

Residents of Ward 8's Congress Heights will be getting new affordable housing, this time from a private sector project beginning early 2010. The 4th Street Vistas are 94 single-family town homes designed by DC-based architect Atelier and being developed by Unidev on a currently vacant plot of land near the intersection of 4th and Mississippi Ave SE. The homes will offer 14 different floor plans for 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom homes.

Unidev purchased the property in early 2007 and spent most of 2008 planning and designing the project, according to Project Manager Emmanuel Ogundipe. The units range in size from 2 bedrooms at 1,200-1,400 s.f., 3 bedrooms from 1,400-2,050 s.f. and 4 bedrooms at 2,050 to 2,100 s.f. The developers secured various permits in early 2009 and the initial 35 units will be built quickly, delivering in the first quarter of 2010.

Geared towards current Ward 8 residents who live in the community but rent their home, 4th Street Vista's offer workforce housing for the city's law enforcement, teachers and civil servants, according to Ogundipe. The units are priced from the $200's to the low $300s. According to Ogundipe, both Councilmembers Marion Barry and Kwame Brown had been aware and excited about the project, and the Ward 8 community supported it energetically.

The general contractor for the project is Harkins Builders.


Washington DC Real Estate News

Savoy Court Opens for Sales in Congress Heights

Savoy Court condominiums has opened for sales, adding another live project to the burgeoning Congress Heights neighborhood where St. Elizabeths is about to become headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security and where William C. Smith is about to renovate and expand a forlorn apartment complex.

Developer Building Partnerships LLC began renovating the 62-unit Savoy Court in 2007, converting the blond brick, art deco building into a condominium after partnering with Manna to help the residents purchase and upgrade the apartment building. Savoy Court began sales in mid 2007 after an initial phase of renovation, selling about half the units before halting sales and initiating the second phase of construction - stripping and rebuilding remaining units. With phase 2 of construction now nearly complete, the remaining units are up for grabs, starting at $159,900 for one-bedroom condos, with a few two-bedroom units in the low $200's. Savoy is also offering lease-to-own options for borrowers whose credit needs upgrading, with part of each month's rent going toward the down payment. Developers amenitized the gated community with a state-of-the art security monitoring system, roof deck, private gym, upgraded lobby, satellite-wired cable system, in-unit laundry, and landscaped courtyard. The newly rebuilt condos offer quartz counters, maple cabinets, and intercom systems. Savoy is located just off I-295, 1 mile south of the bridge connecting historic Anacostia to the ballpark and Capitol Hill, between the Congress Heights and Anacostia metro stations and across from Bolling Air Force Base. Developers of Savoy Court previously developed Woodson Heights Condominiums, Barcelona Condominiums, Verona Parc Condominiums, Park Triangle Apartments, Adams Court Condominiums, and Pacific House Office & Residential Condominiums. The sales center is open Saturdays and Sundays 1-4, or by appointment.

Washington D.C. commercial property sales news

Congress Heights Project to Stimulate Neighborhood "On the Edge"

Yet another project, originally planned as condominiums, will now be developed as affordable rentals, this time in the Congress Heights neighborhood. William C. Smith & Co. (WCS Development) will soon begin the interior fit of 82 units in three apartment buildings at 13th and Mississippi Ave SE, across from Oxon Run Park and walking distance from the Congress Heights Metro Station. The developer expects construction to begin by March 2010 after financing issues delayed the project initially slated for completion in Spring 2008. Jeffrey Smith, Project Manager at WCS, said the switch to rental, with 50 of the 82 units slotted to be 975 s.f. two-bedroom, two-bath rental apartment homes, will make available spacious apartments "not really equaled" in the neighborhood. The condos will total 98,000 s.f. with an added 429-square-foot bump-out to accommodate the two-bedrooms. An original surface parking lot and an additional new lot will provide 56 parking spaces total for the property. Smith said the area of Congress Heights is "on the edge" of a lot of new development with several projects in pre-development and completed projects like Savoy Court delivering new units. He said the community is looking forward to the infusion to "help stabilize their neighborhood." All of the units will be affordable for individuals making 60 percent or less of Area Median Income in accordance with Department of Housing and Community Development's (DHCD) 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits. To comply with DHCD's standards for the tax credits, the building is designed to meet and exceed DC's Green Communities standards, featuring roofs with Energy Star reflectivity standards, low-flush plumbing fixtures and even green (not the color) carpeting. Gutting the interior, the first phase of construction which began quite some time ago, is now 95% complete. Describing the project as "almost like new construction" Smith indicated that the only remaining elements of the original structure are the external walls and the floors. Smith said the developers are "anxious" to get moving on the next phase of construction and that they have all of their permits lined up. Now if that financing would just come through... The project architect is Eric Colbert and Associates and WCS Construction, LLC is the General Contractor, but the project is still in the planning phase for subcontractor bidding for around $4 million worth of work. According to Smith the total cost of the project is estimated at $19 million.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

New Knolls for Congress Heights

Hartford, LLC and Bryant Mitchell Architects (BMA) will put the finishing touches on the Knox Hill Village subdivision next year with 16 new, affordable townhomes. Entitled Hartford Knolls, the project constitutes the final phase of development for the Village project that consists of 109 homes built between 1994 and 2001.

Currently the site of site of a 32,000 square foot vacant lot, the parcel on the 2800 block Hartford Street SE will soon house 16 3-bedroom, 3-bath garage-centric townhomes. Hartford and BMA are betting that the Knolls’ proximity to what they have deemed the “Alabama Avenue Renaissance corridor of Anacostia,” the Congress Heights Metro and the planned redevelopment zone of St. Elizabeths Hospital will make an easy sell in tough housing market. Prices are planned to start at $309,990.

According to Melvin L. Mitchell, Managing Partner of Hartford, LLC and CEO of BMA, the development received DC Board of Zoning Adjustment approval in April 2007 and expects building permits to be granted before the end of the month. The first homes are expected to deliver in the spring of 2009.

Washington DC real estate development news

William C Smith to Develop S.E. Residential Projects

DC-based William C. Smith & Co. (WCS Development) has announced that it will build two new projects with a combined 322 units near Mississippi Avenue in Southeast DC near Oxon Run Park. The first of the two, Park Vista Condominiums, will add to an existing structure, in a design by Architect David Bell, to build a total of 82 condos on the 3400 block of 13th Street, all to be sold at market rate. Across the street, WCS is in the early planning stages for Archer Park, a development with approximately 240 units on 8 acres of hillside, to be built either as condos or apartments. The first phase of construction on Park Vista is expected to start this Fall, with sales likely to begin around the same time, with completion likely next Spring. WCS does not yet have an established timeline for Archer Park, but has chosen SK&I as the project architect. Both projects will be relatively close to The Town Hall Education, Arts & Recreation Campus (THEARC) and the Congress Heights Metro Station.

This is the third area development for WCS, which began sales in April on Ashford Court, a 75-townhouse community at 15th & Mississippi Avenue, SE. Home prices at Ashford Court range from the mid $400's to the mid $500's, 17 units have sold since its opening.